As We Once Were
by Ravensbleeding
Summary: Naruto doesn't know who Sakura is. He's never had a teacher called Iruka or a sensei named Kakashi. He can't even remember his supposed best friend: a boy with red eyes who went by the name of Sasuke. Naruto can't remember what he's never known. On HIATUS; sorry guys!
1. Prologue and Shikamaru

Hey guys! It's been a little over two months since I last uploaded something. I feel accomplished. That's a short amount of time for me. Yay! Plus, now you get to read more stuff! Yay!

Okay, this is actually going to be multi-chaptered, so, don't hate me for uploading chapters slowly because that's just what I do.

Now onto the serious stuff. This...is a weird story. And it can get kinda confusing. Let's see if I can explain this. So basically all of the characters that we know and love in the Naruto world are dead. You can make up your own death stories for each person or just assume that their world exploded and that was the end of them all; I don't care. All that matters is that there's no more Naruto world. Got it? Good. Okay, so now that that's covered, all of those characters have been reborn in our world. This story follows Naruto, who can't remember anyone or anything from the ninja world.

Now that I've gotten that out of the way, and if you're still here, enjoy the story.

Oh, I dont own anyone, except for the OCs that pop up randomly because, let's face it, Naruto isn't just surrounded by all of his ninja friends in this world.

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><p><span>Prologue<span>

Naruto doesn't know who Sakura is. He doesn't know who Kiba, Ino, Shikamaru, or Hinata are either. He doesn't know a Gaara, a Temari, a Kankuro. He's never had a teacher called Iruka or a sensei named Kakashi. He's never met a Neji, Lee, or a Tenten. He's never felt threatened by the name Itachi, Deidara, Sasori or Hidan, He can't tell you what an Akatsuki, a Konoha, or a Suna are. The only drunk gambler he knows is the man down the hall and the only pervy sage he can think of is himself. He's never felt a burning hatred for the name Orochimaru or Kabuto or Madara. He can't even remember his supposed best friend: a boy with duck-butt hair and red eyes who went by the name of Sasuke.

Naruto can't remember what he's never known.

But he's had dreams. Dreams of a gray-haired man by the name of Mizuki telling him to steal something and him actually doing it. Dreams of sitting at a place known as Ichiraku's with the brunette man who only laughs as he orders his fifth bowl of ramen. Dreams of a Sakura, whose pink hair defies natural color and whose punch is deadly. Dreams of a Kiba, a Shikamaru, a Neji, and a Choji who would lay their very lives down for him. Dreams of a Gaara whose red hair is the color of blood and who knows nothing of love. He has dreams of leaving a village with a man who likes porn and frogs, though not necessarily together. He has dreams of kissing a raven-haired boy and getting pummeled for it later by a bunch of rabid girls.

He has nightmares too. Nightmares of having people chase him with sharp weapons and biting insults. Nightmares of a beloved Iruka-sensei nearly dying because _he_ made a mistake. Nightmares where he'd watch Haku – who he swears is a girl – die for the assassin Zabuza. Nightmares where Gaara, that other demon boy, is trying to kill Sakura, where he almost kills Lee. He has nightmares where his teammates hold off the enemy, ready to fight until their very last breath. He has nightmares of losing that Sasuke boy, and when he wakes up his heart aches and his pillow is wet. But the ones that hurt the most are the ones where he wakes up in the hospital and he realizes that he's failed to bring Sasuke back.

Naruto doesn't know why these dreams hurt so much. He's never known any of those people or places. He doesn't know why he has the urge to buy instant ramen by the hundreds and make at least three a day; he doesn't even _like_ ramen. He doesn't know why he's attracted to anything orange; he'd never wear it. He doesn't know why he has a strange obsession with foxes or why he's got a poster of one that he named Kyuubi. He doesn't know why he avoids most adults like the plague; nobody's abused him. He doesn't know why he pulls pranks; they're not funny and he doesn't need the attention. Naruto isn't sure why he's attracted to some things and avoids others but he figures it's all just part of what makes him Naruto.

Shikamaru

Naruto sighs and rests his head on his hand, staring at his teacher. The little old woman is going on and on about some Byzantine Empire and he realizes that he can only try so hard to tune her out before it's a lost cause. The boy in front of him – a thirteen-year-old genius – sighs and turns his head to stare out the window. "This is all so troublesome," the boy mutters. That sets off a twinge in Naruto's chest and he responds by throwing his friend's crumpled up homework at the back of the kid's head. The boy turns around and for a second it looks like he's about to tell the blonde off. Naruto's heart clenches as he gazes into those brown orbs and he wills himself not to look away first. But the boy shakes his head, faces front, and mutters, "Troublesome."

Naruto suddenly has the urge to yell, "Damnit, Shikamaru, stop saying that!" It's on the tip of his tongue trying to worm its way out of his mouth and he has to chomp down on his bottom lip to keep it inside. His heart pounds loud in his chest and it feels like he's suffocating. He's dizzy, lightheaded, and his vision is blurring. He thinks he might be crying. His knuckles are white from his grip on the desk and he comes to the conclusion that he's either going to pass out or let the words slip. He isn't sure which is worse.

"Holy shit, Naruto! What the hell are you doing?" Naruto is snapped out of his daze by his friend Zach, who is digging around in his backpack for a tissue. "Shit," the boy is chanting, but Naruto doesn't know why until he feels something drip onto his arm. He looks down, staring at that speck of red until another joins it. Zach shoves a tissue against his mouth and he finally realizes what's happened: he's bitten through his lip. "Shit, Naruto." Zach flings his hand in the air. "Teacher, I need to take him to the bathroom." Then he's up and tugging the blonde out of the classroom. "Shit, Naruto." The blonde looks back to the kid that sits in front of him. Those brown orbs are looking straight at him. 'Don't,' he thinks, and the boy smirks and turns his head.

"Shit." Zach dabs at Naruto's bottom lip with a wet paper towel. The blonde is sitting on the bathroom counter watching every move his friend makes. "Shit, Naruto."

"Shut up, Zach." Naruto's had enough. "I'm not dying. It's just a little blood." But he allows the boy to continue dabbing at his wound.

"What the hell, Naruto?" Zach finally snaps. "You know, I don't say anything about your daydreaming habits or when you skip school because you've had another nightmare. I don't criticize your spending money on orange jackets you never wear or your drawing that stupid fan thing over and over again before you burst into tears. I didn't even open my mouth when you got this ridiculous tattoo." Zach lifts up his shirt to reveal the spiral on his naval. "And I've never questioned why you avoid my parents – and your own parents! – like they're trying to kill you. But shit, Naruto, you're plunging off the edge, man." Zach runs his finger over Naruto's lip which has stopped bleeding.

Naruto pushes the boy's hand away and turns his head to the side. Blonde locks fall into his face. "It's that boy, Zach. I don't even know his name and he's driving me crazy. It's his stupid saying, that stupid, 'This is so troublesome.' It's so familiar to me but he's the only person I know who says it and I don't know him!"

Zach stares at the blonde for a long time. "Maybe-" But the bell cuts him off and Naruto jumps off the counter.

"I need to get my stuff," he mumbles, pushing open the bathroom door and disappearing into the crowd. He is jostled along by the other kids, ignoring them bumping against him or hitting him with their bags. A hand latches onto his arm and jerks him over to the side, next to the lockers and away from everyone.

"This is yours." His green book bag is shoved into his arms as he stares into chocolate brown eyes.

"It wasn't too troublesome for you?" the blonde jokes but his throat tightens and he has the sudden urge to cry.

"No." Those brown eyes are now dark and serious. "Naruto," the boy says, and the teen hates the way his name spills from those lips. "Naruto, I would lay down my life for you." And then the boy is gone, swept away into the crowd. Naruto stands there, confused, and the late bell rings but it sounds so far away to his ears. He sinks to the ground and buries his face in his hands.

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><p>And that's the first chapter to my new story! I hope you enjoyed it, and, if you're curious about where this is going and who he'll meet next, then subscribe and find out soon!<p>

Oh, and, leave a review telling me how you feel about the story or how I can improve it. Sorry for any mistakes I made.

Have a good day!


	2. Kiba and Akamaru

And here is the second chapter because I'm trying to stay psyched about this story. So, that means faster updates, I guess. Yay for you!

So, um, I don't own Naruto. Yeah...

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><p><span>Kiba and Akamaru<span>

Naruto shuffles along the sidewalk, hands jammed into his jean pockets, green book bag slung over one shoulder, blue eyes focused on the ground. His friend Alina walks next to him talking incessantly about something he's not listening to. She links arms with him and rest her head on his shoulder, drawing his attention. "Naru-baby," she croons, "what's wrong? Did you have another scary nightmare?" She pinches his cheek. "C'mon babe, talk to me."

"Alina," he warns. He hates when she talks to him like a child. He knows she won't heed his warning though; she never does. It's partially why he keeps her around.

"Naruto," she counters, stepping in front of him. She places her hand on his chest, stopping him, and says, "Tell me what's wrong. You've been quiet all day. Did you have another nightmare?"

"Don't worry about it," he tells her, pushing her aside.

"No, Naruto!" She grabs his arm. "Zach told me what happened two days ago. About that boy. And like him I've let your really odd quirks slide. But I'm not going to stand by anymore if things are this bad! I'm not!" She watches him turn away. "Listen to me!" she yells, shaking his arm. "Listen to me, you asshole!" But he doesn't even look at her. Tears well up in her eyes. "Why won't you listen to me?"

"Alina" He turns to her and takes her face in his hands. "You don't understand." He wipes the tears off her cheeks and cracks the tiniest smile. "You're pretty ugly when you cry, you know that?"

She laughs, smacking his hands away from her. "You're such a jerk!"

A commotion on the other side of the street catches their attention and they both turn to stare. Two young boys – twins – no older than twelve have broken into a fight, yelling and screaming and punching, kicking, biting, clawing. The only parental figure around – their father, perhaps – is standing nearby holding a small barking dog that looks eager to jump into the fray.

"Somebody should stop them," Alina comments, watching one of the boys bite down onto the other's arm.

"They're too close to the street," is all Naruto says. He's getting nervous, anxious, watching them but the traffic going by is too loud for anyone to hear him and there's no opportune moment for him to run across the road and pull them apart. Didn't their father care?

Alina winces as one of them gets kicked in the face. "I'd put my money on one of them but I can't tell which is which." One of them is clawed in the face. "But, I couldn't lose then! Cause no one would be able to tell them apart either!"

"Or you could never win," Naruto responds, watching as one of them gets punched in the gut.

It's then that the mother of the twins comes out of the nearest store. She lets out a deafening shriek and lunges for her children, wrenching them apart by their ears. She yells at them and at her husband, who is still holding the little yappy dog. One of the boys manages to escape his mother's grip. Naruto watches him do damage control, inspecting himself for any major wounds. And then he looks up, his brown eyes catching Naruto's blue ones. Those eyes light up in recognition but the blonde just blinks, confused.

"Naruto, it's me!" the boy yells, waving. "It's me!" But Naruto steps back, afraid, and tries to look around to see if anyone else is noticing this. Alina grabs his arm.

"Naruto…?" She looks worried.

The boy steps out into the street. "It's me, Akamaru!" Naruto lurches forward, but Alina's grip is holding him back. He looks back at her, tugs on his arm, but she won't let go. If anything, her grip tightens. "Remember, Naruto? I used to be a dog!" The boy is in the middle of the street, arms outstretched like he wants nothing more than to hug the blonde. Naruto gets free of Alina's grasp and moves, runs, to the street, intent on getting to the boy. "Kiba and I-"

The sound of squealing tires is agony to Naruto's ears and he can only watch, horrified, as the boy is hit. That small body lies still and unmoving. The driver of the car is getting out, sobbing, dialing 911 to tell the police she just hit a child. A wail erupts from the boy's mother as she falls to her knees.

His heart's pounding is all he can hear as he turns to the side and pukes.

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><p>I know it's not a long chapter but it does lead up to Naruto meeting more people. And the chapters do get longer because things do get a little more exiciting and there are more Naruto universe characters involved so just bear with me for the moment and accept my short chapters.<p>

Anyhoo, leave a review with your comments and have a good day!


	3. Neji

Okay, so, here's the third chapter! Unfortunately, it's short too. but they will get longer eventually, I swear!

Anyway, I figure I'd address two things at the moment. One, there are a lot of time skips. Let's face it; it's not realistic if he meets a new Naruto character every day. It's probably not even realitstic for him to go 16 years of his life and now suddenly meet a whole bunch of them, but let's overlook that. So there are timeskips because I really don't want to tell you what he does every day and you don't really care to know unless it involves the characters you know and love. Two, the characters ages range. A lot. So don't complain to me about how Neji is so "old" and Kiba is like, twelve, and that sucks.

But, onto the story now because I've bored you. I don't own Naruto.

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><p><span>Neji<span>

Naruto gets home fifteen minutes later now. Since the incident he refuses to walk down that street. He doesn't want to replay that scene, doesn't want to see that kid's body in the street. He doesn't want to know how that kid knew him.

He tells himself he doesn't care.

Nowadays he goes a different route, one that takes him through a neighborhood. He passes nice houses, a school, and a park. The people taking walks and standing in their yards smile and wave as he passes them. The kids left behind at the school waiting for their parents enjoy waving and running up to talk to him as he walks by. But the park is where things are no longer smiles and waves. There's a man there that just stares at him as he walks past. He knows that gaze stays on him until he disappears around the corner.

Two weeks. For two weeks that man stares at him. For two weeks he pretends to ignore that piercing gaze. Two weeks, and he can't stand it anymore.

"Can I help you?" he asks, staring back at the man.

Those pale eyes, almost lavender, he thinks, have a tinge of sadness in their depths. "You've changed."

The blonde is reminded of that child. That car. That lifeless body. That familiarity in those eyes. "I don't know you." He's confused, angry, upset. He doesn't understand why people keep saying they know him. They don't. They can't possibly.

The man takes a step towards him. "Don't you remember me?" He tilts his head to the side, eyes searching Naruto's for an answers. "Do you remember anything?"

"No." Naruto takes a step back, debating on making a break for it or not. Some part of his brain is telling him to get the hell away before something bad happens. But the other part is telling him that he could get answers here. He could get all the answers to his questions.

"Naruto…" The blonde's heart skips a beat in his chest at the man's tone. His blood freezes in his veins. That man reaches out for him.

"No!" he screams. And runs.

He left his wallet. He figures it fell out of his pocket while he running. Some part of him is saying that this is destiny, that he's supposed to find out the answers from this man but he can't help cursing himself for being so stupid. He really doesn't want to go back. He'd rather just buy a new wallet and go on down the road but his license and debit card are in there and he needs those. But he really, really doesn't want to go back.

The man is standing on the sidewalk holding out his wallet as he approaches. He puts it in his back pocket and stands there awkwardly, waiting. He figures the man wants some form of compensation. "We need to talk," he finally says, turning and walking to the nearest picnic table. Naruto follows. "My name is Neil."

The blonde blinks stupidly. He doesn't know that name.

"Of course, I wouldn't expect you to know that." The man swallows, looking as awkward as the situation feels, and runs a hand through his long brown hair. "I'm Neji."

Time stops. That name echoes in his mind, so loud it almost hurts. Images of a Neji from so long ago flash through his mind. The Byakugan, that chunin fight with the girl who has the same eyes, their own fight in the chunin exams, Neji right beside him ready to face the world. His friend…and then it feels like his mind is being torn in two as mental barriers slam down. He clutches his head and tries not to scream. Those images or Neji are mixing and swirling and he's dizzy and confused. He falls to his knees.

And then Neji is in front of him, hands on his shoulders. "Naruto." That voice is fuzzy, distant. "Naruto." He looks into those lavender eyes and the way that long hair frames the man's face and he sees it. He sees the boy he knew so long ago.

"Neji," escapes his lips, awed and full of wonder. And then he promptly passes out.

He wakes up on someone's couch. He knows for a fact that it isn't his because he lives in an apartment and this is definitely no apartment. It's got to be one of the big houses he walks by on his way home from school. "You're awake." Neji helps him sit up. "I figured it would be best if I brought you here. I'll go get you a glass of water."

"No!" Naruto's voice breaks as he grabs onto Neji's arm. The man looks startled but sits back down. "There are others," the blonde says hurriedly. "Others like you. People who know me, but I don't know them."

"We used to be friends. They probably used to be your friend too." Neji seems to be gazing off into nothingness, remembering things Naruto can't.

"Please," he says weakly. Neji is the only one who can help him.

The man reaches out and takes his hand. "I won't let you down, Naruto."

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><p>So, um, ta-da! That is the extent of the third chapter! I hope you enjoyed it and are waiting further for more super awesome chapters like this one! (Even though nothing super exciting happened...)<p>

Anyhoo, leave a review and hopefully the next chapter will be up in the next week or so!


	4. Kiba

Well, I meant to upload this Monday but I didn't because I just...didn't. This isn't a good sign for my uploading abilities. Anyhoo, it's up now so you can all enjoy it!

I don't own Naruto. Or Kiba. Or Neji. Darn.

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><p><span>Kiba<span>

A month. A month since he walked this street, saw that boy get hit. A month since he heard the mother's anguish. It's been a month and here he is, braving this place again because Neji told him he'll never get answers by running away. He's braving this street for answers, though it does help a lot that he's got Neji on speed dial if anything goes wrong.

"For a while I thought you were never coming back." Naruto jumps and turns around and there is one of the twins leaning against a building. The blonde opens his mouth but no sound comes out. "You don't know me," the boy says dryly, pushing himself off the wall and coming closer.

"No." Naruto's voice sounds weak to his own ears. He doesn't think he can do this anymore.

"But I know you." The boy is circling him, watching him like a hawk watches prey.

"Do you?" Naruto is fairly certain his voice just cracked.

"You're Naruto. You like orange and frogs and ramen. You're loud and obnoxious and kinda stupid. You're stubborn to a fault. But you're one of the most loyal and kind-hearted people I know." The boy smirks like he's won.

But the blonde shakes his head and with all the courage he can muster says, "But you don't know me. I don't like orange; my favorite color is blue. Frogs are disgusting and so is ramen. I'm not loud and I try hard not to be obnoxious. I'm slow sometimes but I'm not stupid. I have all A's and B's. I'll give you that I'm stubborn and loyal and kind-hearted because that's what I like to see myself as. But you know the old me. You know the me I was. But that's not me and I still don't know who you are!"

The boy is staring at him incredulously, smirk wiped completely off his face and Naruto feels bad for yelling at a kid whose brother got hit by a car because of him. He opens his mouth to apologize but the boy holds up his hand. "You're right. You don't know me. And I…I obviously don't know you. I'm sorry." The boy turns to leave, muttering under his breath.

"Don't walk away from me," Naruto whispers. "Please." But the boy is walking away. "Please, Kiba!" he pleads.

The boy freezes then spins to face him. "What did you call me?"

"I…I don't know. I'm so sorry. I should go. I'm so sorry." Naruto is backing away. He's got his cell phone in hand, ready to call Neji and tell him what's happening but his hands are shaking too much for him to do anything.

"No. What did you call me?" The boy is approaching him again. His phone slips from his fingers and clatters to the ground.

"I don't know. I'm so sorry."

The boy shakes his head, disgust written all over his features. "Then you really don't remember. I knew it. A loser like you doesn't deserve to remember." The boy turns, hands jammed into his pockets, and walks away.

"Tell me about him."

"Does everyone remember but me?" Naruto is sitting on a park bench, recovering from his encounter with the boy.

There's silence on the other end, then the sound of quick typing, and finally, "I don't know, Naruto."

"Did I do something wrong? Is this some sort of punishment?"

"I don't know." More typing. Neji is work. "Tell me about this boy, Naruto. You said you called him something?"

"Yeah, but I don't remember what. It got his attention though." He chews on his bottom lip.

Typing. A pause. More typing. "Describe him, Naruto. Please."

"He's got short brown hair and brown eyes." He pauses as he tries to remember. He's being too vague; Neji won't know who he's talking about. "A grey coat." He tries harder to remember. Neji is patiently typing away on the other end. "He reminds me of a dog." This last part he says quietly; it is a little offensive.

"Kiba," is the automatic answer. "Kiba Inuzuka."

Memories flow back. The jacket, the red triangle cheek tattoos, the little white dog… "Akamaru!" he shouts in revelation. Their fight in the exams, Kiba by his side, arm along over his shoulder as they laugh about something…And then the barriers slam down and all that's left is pain. Recent memories pop up. Akamaru getting hit by the car, Kiba walking away with that disgusted look on his face….

"Neji…"

"Naruto? Naruto, stay with me!" That voice is so far away…

"Kiba…"

"Naruto? Naruto!"

"Naruto." A hand lifts up his face and Naruto finds himself staring into warm brown eyes. "Stay with me." A smile lights up that face. "Hey, loser. You whining to your boyfriend?"

And it suddenly feels like they're those kids again. "Shut your face, dog-breath. Neji is not my boyfriend."

"Naruto? What about your boyfriend?" And there's Neji, confused.

"You've found Neji?"

"Naruto, is everything okay?"

"Is that him?" Naruto hands Kiba the phone. "Hey! Holy shit you sound old!" A pause as Neji speaks. "No, I am not a child!" Another pause. "You know what, asshole? I never liked you!" Kiba sticks his tongue out and hangs up. "Ha!" He hands the phone back to the blonde. "We should go do something."

"I'm sorry about Akamaru," Naruto blurts out.

Kiba blinks, startled by the outburst, then shrugs. "It's okay, man."

"It's okay? Your brother is dead and 'it's okay'?"

The boy looks confused for a second, and then it dawns on him. "Akamaru's not dead. He's just got a broken arm." He laughs at the look on Naruto's face. "I can't believe you thought he was dead!"

"I never knew otherwise…"

"You should come sometime! He'd enjoy that."

"Kiba, I don't…"

"Come on, man!"

"Kiba, I still don't know you." Naruto has to glance away as he says this; he doesn't want to see the hurt on the boy's face.

"But you…you…" Kiba is absolutely crushed.

"Some part of me remembers you but I…I don't know you. Every time I try to remember it's like…there are mental blocks to keep me from doing so. I only get snippets of how we used to be…what you used to be like. I'm sorry." He places a hand on Kiba's arm. "I'm so sorry."

The boy looks up at him. "You don't remember much at all?" Naruto shakes his head no and Kiba smirks. "Then start asking questions."

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><p>Well, I think that was a longer chapter than usual, so yay. Um, I don't have much to say on it. So...sorry for any mistakes, and leave a review telling me what you think!<p>

Have a nice day!


	5. Gaara

Well, here's the next update in my story! It features one of our most beloved characters: Gaara! Yay!

I don't really have much to say except that I don't own Naruto, or Gaara, or anyone, so...enjoy!

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><p><span>Gaara<span>

Naruto spends most of his time after school with Neji or Kiba. He asks questions and gets answers but none of them trigger any memories. He's told names of people that he should know but they don't do anything for him and he always forgets the name by the next day. It's frustrating all of them that he can't remember but until he actually meets any of the people they talk about he'll never get it.

"So he's got red hair and green eyes and-"

"Is creepy as fuck," Kiba finishes for him. The boy's mother shoots him a disapproving look and clucks her tongue and Naruto laughs as the boy ducks his head in shame.

"He's a good fighter though," Akamaru pipes up.

"He used to be," Kiba corrects. "We don't know what he is in this time."

"Ki- Kasey," Naruto says at the last minute as their mother walks by again, "is there anything else about him?"

Kiba shudders. "That name is weird coming from you. It feels wrong.

Naruto shrugs. "I can't call you by that name while your mother is around. She'll think I'm crazy."

"Yeah, yeah, I get-"

"Kasey!" the aforementioned woman yells. "Take out the trash and then come eat! You too, Andy!"

Naruto glances at the clock. "I should get going anyway. My parents expect me home soon." He stands and gathers his things. "Thanks for having me," he says as he heads to the door.

"Wait, Naruto!" The blonde turns as Akamaru comes up to him. "Gaara is also…he used to be…sad. You…understood him, Naruto." The boy bites his lip. "That's…that's all I can tell you." The blonde nods and leaves.

He can't sleep that night. He tosses and turns in bed and kicks off covers and pulls them back on until he can't take it anymore. He gets out of bed, throws some clothes on, and leaves the apartment, careful not to wake his parents. He heads down the street, uncaring, as his feet carry him somewhere. He stares at the ground as he walks, observing the cracks in the sidewalk.

Needless to say it's a rude awakening when he crashes into someone and falls back. "I'm so sorry! I-" But the words die in his throat as the man turns to face him and green eyes catch his attention. "I…"

"…need to watch where you're going," the man finishes for him. "It's not the best time of day for you to be running into people."

Naruto gets up and dusts himself off. "I know and I'm so sorry and-" He pauses as the man pushes his red bangs back. "And you're missing something."

The man's eyes narrow. "I'm sorry?"

The blonde points at the redhead's forehead. "You're missing something," he repeats. His brain tells him to shut up but he can't stop his mouth from moving. "Right there. It's gone."

"You're crazy." The man turns to leave but Naruto grabs his arm without thinking. Shock flits across both their faces.

"I'm not crazy, I swear! I'm normally normal! It's just you!" His brain is telling him that he really needs to shut up now.

A pierced, non-existent eyebrow goes up. "I make you crazy?"

"Yes!" Naruto blurts. "No!" He looks up at the man meekly and whispers, "Yes?"

"I'm leaving." The man yanks his arm out of the blonde's grasp and walks off.

"Wait! Don't you…don't you feel incomplete?" Naruto's fairly certain that he's about to start crying but he doesn't know how to fix this situation.

The redhead glances at him over his shoulder. Those jade eyes glitter in the moonlight and give the man an almost maniac look. "Don't even try to pretend you know how I feel." Even the tone of voice is dangerous.

But Naruto isn't fazed by that look for very long. "You think you're all alone, right? Maybe a little crazy?" The man shakes his head and keeps walking away. "You go to bed and pray that you don't have those nightmares again because you don't understand why they hurt but they do! And you walk by people on the street and you catch their eye and some part of you knows them and you try to make a connection but you can't because it's all locked away, just out of reach!" The man stops. "And you feel hollow and no amount of anything that you do fills that space!"

The man faces him. "You're fucking with me."

Naruto steps forward, holding out his hand. "I can…I can help make it go away."

The redhead sneers, recoiling from his hand. "What is this, some crappy cliché movie?"

"Please," the blonde begs.

The man shakes his head. "You may know what I'm going through but you don't know how to solve this problem any more than I do." He walks away.

"I had him!" Naruto slams his fist into Neji's kitchen wall. "He was right there and-"

"Are you sure it was him? You could've had the wrong guy."

"No," the blonde snaps. "I know it was him. He was just missing something." Naruto motions to his forehead. "I just don't know what."

"His eyebrows?" Kiba asks, smirking as he sips his coke.

"No! This is serious, Kiba! I had him. I had him and he slipped through my fingers and you're making jokes?" The small brunette swallows thickly and looks to the ground. Naruto suddenly feels guilty but when he reaches out for the child Kiba steps out of his reach.

"His tattoo," the boy mutters darkly. "That's probably what he's missing."

"His tattoo?" And suddenly that tattoo, that bright red symbol, flashes through his mind. Then the barriers are there, slamming down and cutting off those memories.

"Love," Neji fills in before he can ask. "His tattoo was the kanji for love. He said no one would love him except for himself."

There's a long moment of silence as the blonde takes this in.

"We should discuss someone-"

"Why doesn't he remember?"

Neji is caught off guard by the interruption. "What?"

"Why doesn't he remember? He's just as lost as I am, just as confused. You remembered. Both of you. Why doesn't he?"

"I don't know, Naruto."

"This isn't fucking fair! Who decided that you got to remember and we didn't? Huh? Why you? What the hell have you done that makes you "worthy" enough to remember? And if you're "worthy" enough, then why aren't I? Were you better people? Did we fuck up somewhere?" A sob escapes the blonde's lips. "Why aren't we good enough? Why do we have to suffer like this? Why do you get to stand there and know everything and we get to be lost? Why? What did we do wrong?" He falls to his knees and breaks into tears. "Why?"

Neji, Kiba, and Akamaru don't have an answer.

"Back again?" the redhead asks. There's a smirk dancing on his lips and a glint in his eye that suggests that he finds the blonde amusing.

"Shut up," the teen snarls. "You're just as fucked up as I am, maybe even more so. So stop looking at me like I'm pathetic and go look in a fucking mirror sometime!"

The smirk slips off that face and those green eyes narrow dangerously. "Decided to man-up, did you?"

"Shut up. You're going to listen to me!" Naruto takes a step forward, blue eyes piercing.

Those green eyes widen and a maniacal grin spreads across that face. "I bet you cried yourself to sleep, right? Because you're pathetic. And you think you can suck it all up and talk to me that way? You're quite mistaken." The man lashes out and grabs Naruto's wrist, yanking the boy close. "You are so weak."

"No." The blonde stands his ground, eyes defiant. "I'm not the one avoiding my problem, my pain. You're the one running away! I'm trying to-"

The man claims his lips in a bruising kiss. Their teeth clack together from the force of it and a tongue darts into his mouth. He responds with a punch to that face, stumbling back as the man releases him. "The fuck is your problem?" But the redhead lunges at him and they both go down. Blows are exchanged. He's kicking and clawing and biting and the man is responding in kind. "Get off!" Naruto snarls and aims a fist towards the man's face again but it's caught and his arm is pinned. One by one his limbs are rendered immobile and he realizes that he's probably as good as dead.

But the redhead leans down so that their foreheads are touching. Those jade eyes stare deep into his blue ones. "Naruto," the man whispers and it sends chills up his spine. That voice sounds young, confused, scared, lost. "What am I missing?"

"Love," he answers softly.

Recognition flits through those eyes. "Naruto? Naruto, I-" And then the man clutches his head, groaning.

"Gaara?" The name is smooth coming off his lips, familiar, and his mind processes that Gaara was his friend. Is his friend. They had a bond.

"No," the man rasps out. "No, that's not…that's not my name." The recognition is gone, replaced with more confusion and anger. "I'm not Gaara and you're…you're still Naruto…"The blonde nods, crushed inside. He knows how it feels to be Kiba or Neji now, hoping for any sort of remembrance of their bond only to have it shattered seconds later when he doesn't remember. "What the hell are you doing to me?"

"Triggering," he answers.

"Triggering _what_?"

"Your memories. Of me. Of us."

The man stares at him for a long time, trying to find lies. Naruto's blue eyes glimmer brightly, never wavering from his. "Fuckin' hell."

* * *

><p>And, um, ta-da! There was quite a bit of the f-word used in here but, I'm pretty sure you handled it well. Uh, yeah, I still don't have much to say.<p>

I mean, um, yay that Naruto's found a buddy who doesn't remember like him! Yay for buddies!

Anyhoo, I'm glad you read this chapter. Please leave a review telling me what you thought!

Have a nice day, night, whatever you want to be nice!


	6. Sasori and Deidara

Ohmigosh you guys, I haven't updated this in FOREVER! *checks when the last update was* Eek, it was over a month ago!

I'm so sorry about the wait! I could give a whole bunch of excuses but you don't want to hear those. I'm sure you're just ready to read the story. So ONWARD, to...um...the story.

I don't own Naruto.

* * *

><p><span>Sasori and Deidara<span>

"Explain what it is you did to me." Gaara is in the kitchen supposedly getting drinks, though Naruto isn't exactly sure what's going on with all the banging around in there.

The blonde looks away from the brightly colored wall to glance at the redhead, who has what looks like ten glasses in his hands. "You paint?"

"I paint." Gaara knocks sheets of paper and old palettes off the small coffee table, setting the glasses there in their place. "Now tell me what you did to me." The redhead sits on an old chair, drinking something clear-like that Naruto guesses is alcoholic.

"I triggered your old memories."

"My old memories." The man shoots him a 'don't-fuck-with-me' look and takes another swallow of the clearish liquid.

"From our past life or something." Naruto picks up a rough sketch of what looks like a desert. "That's how Neji explained it to me, anyway." He sets it down and looks at another sketch, this one of a giant sand-raccoon looking thing. "Apparently we all lived in some kind of ninja world." Naruto notices that Gaara picks up another glass of alcohol and downs that too. "That's not healthy, you know. But, anyway, I guess we all died or something in that world and we reborn here in this one. And don't give me that look! If you remembered more you'd probably understand!" He sets down the weird raccoon and picks up another sketch, noticing with some satisfaction that the person in the picture looks like him. "Some of us remember," he says, putting that down on the coffee table, "but you and me? We have to trigger our memories by finding people who do remember."

Gaara stares at him. And stares at him. And drinks some more. "This is bullshit."

"No! If I could trigger memories you'd understand!"

"Get out of my house." The redhead stands up and begins gathering the glasses.

"But you felt something that night! I know you did!" the blonde pleads, desperately hoping that he can get through. "Don't you remember?"

"No. Get out of my-" But the doorbell rings and cuts the redhead off. He glares at the door, then at Naruto, and back at the door, as though he can't tell which he hates more.

"Open the door, panda man! We've got muffins, yeah!"

"Panda-?"

Gaara shoots the blonde a nasty glare to silence him. "It's his stupid nickname for me." He unbolts the door and turns the doorknob and is promptly tackled by a blonde male.

"Panda man!" The blonde is squishing the redhead, who is flailing uselessly under him.

"Dei, get off of him." The redhead man outside steps in, avoiding the mess of people on the floor. The blonde does as he's told, taking the hand of the taller redhead.

"Panda man, we haven't seen you in ages, yeah!" The blonde takes notice of Naruto on the couch and grins. "Is this why? That's so cute!"

"No." Gaara picks himself up. "He was just leaving." He motions towards the still open door.

"No, let your boyfriend stay, yeah! We don't mind!" Naruto's cheek warm up and he looks away. Gaara's left eye twitches.

"He isn't my-"

"We brought drinks!" The blonde seats himself on the couch next to Naruto, setting the bottles he brought in an empty space on the coffee table. He stares at Naruto for a while, which unnerves the younger blonde, before grinning. "How long have you two been going out, yeah?"

"We haven't," Gaara says darkly, heading into the kitchen to control his twitching eye and probably get another drink.

"So you just fuck?" The blonde looks confused for a second before reaching over and turning Naruto's head from side to side. "He looks a little young, yeah."

Naruto's face is bright red. "We don't do anything!" he sputters, jerking out of the older blonde's grasp. "We – we're just friends!" The hear Gaara's 'hm' of agreement from the kitchen, along with some banging.

The taller redhead, who has been leaning against the wall watching everything, stands up. "Dei, talk. Now." The redhead heads into the back of the apartment and with a slightly worried look, the blonde follows. Naruto casts a quick glance at the kitchen, notes that Gaara is occupied, and follows the two into the back.

"Deidara, if he can't trigger memories, then who can? That kid was Gaara's best friend. If he's not bringing back anything then what makes you think we can?"

"Sasori-danna, maybe that kid doesn't know who he is either! Maybe it's just chance they found each other. Like you and me, yeah!"

"No. It's obvious that Gaara hates the kid. Somebody's pulling strings here."

"Maybe he knows more than he lets on then. Maybe he's just waiting for the right time. But, I'm fairly certain that he doesn't know who we are."

"And he doesn't know when to mind his own business." The door to the room is suddenly opened and Naruto finds himself staring up at the redhead and the blonde. "Well? You have ten seconds to defend yourself."

"You're talking about memories, right?" the teen blurts out. "How to trigger them? I…I can help. I'm trying to help. Please don't hurt me."

The older redhead yanks him into the room and closes the door. "How?"

But the other blonde places a hand on the redhead's shoulder. "Danna, un, you're scaring him." He turns to Naruto. "Do you know who we are?"

"No. But, you're from that other world, right? You remember things. You know who I am."

Dei smiles. "He does know some things, danna."

But the redhead doesn't look impressed. At all. "How do you make the memories come back?"

Naruto nibbles on his bottom lip. I'm not…entirely sure because I don't have a lot of my memories back but it seems like…like…" He falters and the redhead grabs onto the front of his shirt.

"Tell me."

"Danna!" Dei grabs the man's arm and pries his hands away from Naruto. "Stop harassing him!"

"He's not giving any answers!"

"Because you're scaring him! Danna, he knows something! He's trying to help us! Stop trying to ruin this!"

The redhead sucks in a deep breath, frowning, but doesn't say anything in response. Naruto swallows before trying again to answer. "It seems like…like you need to see the face, see the person directly before anything else. And then…their old name, your old name, should trigger some memories. That's how it…how it works for me…"

Dei blinks almost stupidly. "It's that simple?"

"You never tried that before?"

The older blonde is about to respond when the redhead steps forward. "My name is Sasori."

And suddenly the wind is sucked from Naruto's lungs. He remembers his pink-haired friend, his teammate, leaving to fight the puppeteer. He remembers an old woman. He doesn't know anything about their fight, but he knows that this man was in their way. He was in their way. Why? What…and then it hits him that this man was blocking him from saving Gaara. Saving Gaara…

He falls to his knees as the mental barriers slam down.

"Naruto?" Dei's voice is dull, almost muted. "Naruto?"

He feels rage and hate flood through his body. For an instant, he hates this man. For an instant all he wants to do is tear the redhead apart limb from limb. "You son of a bitch," he breathes out. "You deserved to die."

"Naruto!" Dei cries and every ounce of rage vanishes. "Don't say that about danna!" His grabs hold of Sasori's hand.

"No, let him be angry," the man disagrees. "He has the right to be angry. None of the memories he harbors of us are pleasant. We should have expected such rage, just as we should expect it from Gaara." He takes a good look at Naruto. "But is your rage only that temporary? Is it simply a flash of emotion at the memories, nothing more? Do you not feel anything for the memories that you now retain? Or is it simply a case of anger at the person I was once, and not the person I am now?" A smirk plays on Sasori's lips. "It's all the same person in the end, Naruto."

"That's not true, danna! We're better people now! We're trying to help Gaara, not hurt him!"

"Hurt Gaara?" Her scrunches up his face, trying to make the memories come back.

"No! I'm not going to hurt him! I'm not going to hurt anyone! Tell him, danna!" Dei grabs Sasori's arm, eyes brimming with tears. "Tell him!"

"The fuck is going on back here?" The opening of the door cuts off anything Sasori would have said and he purses his lips into a thin line of disapproval. "I turn around for a few minutes and you all disappear." Gaara points at Naruto. "You need to get out of my apartment. You've overstayed your welcome."

Naruto, without a word of protest, walks out.

School is a nightmare. He's exhausted from late nights spent with Neji or Kiba and Akamaru. Any sleep he does get is riddled with memories past and present: Akamaru getting hit by the car, watching Kiba leave him to go fight those creepy twins, Neji watching him at the park, fighting against him in the Chunin exams. He's fairly certain that he's failing three classes but that's okay with him.

He's in history again. The teacher is talking but he has no idea what the old lady is saying because he's most definitely not paying attention. Instead he's been staring at the boy in front of him for the past half hour. He glances at the teacher once, notices her turned away, and chucks a wadded up piece of paper at the kid's head. The boy turns.

"What's your name?"

The boy is caught off guard. "It's halfway through November and you still don't know my name? Tch, how tro-" But Naruto's phone vibrates in his pocket and distracts him from the kid. He pulls it out and examines the text.

_'Naruto, panda-man is responding to me! Help!' _

And almost immediately he gets another text, this one from Sasori. _'Naruto, we don't know what's going on with Gaara. He seems to be in shock. Get over here.'_

Naruto looks up at the clock, takes note of the fact that there are only five minutes left of class, and throws another ball of paper at the kid's head. The boy looks back again, eyebrow raised, and Naruto kicks his bag next to the boy's leg. "Watch that for me." Before the boy can something anything Naruto throws his hand up in the air. "Mrs., I've got to pee!"

The old woman has shock written all over her face. "But there's only-"

"I really have to go!" he protests.

"Well, if you really have to-" He's up and out of the room in a flash.

"Hey, Neji?"

"Naruto? Shouldn't you be in school? Is everything okay?"

"No. But it's not me who's having problems. It's Gaara. I know you have work, but, could you come be support?"

"Naruto, I can't just leave. And you should be at school. Go back."

"Gaara's a priority."

"He isn't. Get back to-" But he hangs up before Neji can finish speaking.

He lets himself in to Gaara's apartment. The redhead is on the couch gazing off into oblivion. Die is sitting next to him, shaking him slightly. Sasori is leaning against the back wall, arms crossed, staring intently at the back of Gaara's head. He looks up when Naruto enters, his shoulders relaxing slightly.

"Can you fix him?" is Dei's worried question.

"I don't know." Naruto gets down on his knees in front of the smaller redhead, staring up into those jade eyes. "Hey, Gaara? Gaara, talk to me." But the redhead doesn't move, doesn't blink.

"We've already tried that," Sasori says.

Naruto stands up. "Well, what haven't you tried?"

"We've poked him and shook him. We haven't pushed him off the couch though. Should we do that?"

Sasori shoots his boyfriend a disapproving look. "That won't help," Naruto says, getting back down. "So…what exactly happened?"

"We told him Dei's name," Sasori answers.

"Oh." Naruto looks at the other blonde and then to Sasori. "I don't even know Dei's name."

"Deina," the blonde says, smiling. "Mom wanted a girl."

"Not that name," Sasori hisses, glaring.

"Oh. Oh!" Dei's cheeks flush red. "Deidara."

Naruto sucks in a deep breath like he's been punched in the gut. Memories are starting to flash through his mind when he's grabbed by the shoulders and shaken roughly. "We don't have time for you to go into shock too. Stay with me. Think of Gaara. Gaa-ra." The redhead shakes him again.

"I'm okay," he says, clutching his head. A massive headache is coming on. "I think." He looks back up at Gaara. "Snap out of this, Gaara." He tries to think of what he could possibly do that would work when it hits him. He pushes himself off his knees and presses his forehead to Gaara's. "Gaara."

Hands grab his shoulders. Green eyes blink slowly. "He killed me." Gaara rises to his feet, towering over both the blonde's. He turns to Dei, eyes narrowing dangerously. "You killed me."

"I…I didn't kill you. I – I only-"

"You killed me! And then you have the audacity to come to me in this life and pretend to be my friend?"

"I was trying to help! I'm trying to make things better!" Tears come to Dei's eyes. "I'm not hurting you! I'm trying to help! Help! I'm trying to be your friend!"

Sasori steps in front of the crying blonde. "We're trying to turn our lives around, make up for our mistakes then."

"And you thought I would just accept you, get over the fact that _you killed me_?"

"I'm sorry!" Dei screams. "I'm sorry!"

"And you." Gaara turns around and grabs Naruto by the throat. "You spend your time trying to find these memories? This _shit_?" His grip tightens. "Did you ever think that maybe we weren't supposed to remember? That it wasn't worth remembering?" Naruto's vision is getting spotty, but he can see Sasori trying to get Gaara away from him. "Did you ever think for a second that we'd be better off without these memories, that maybe we'd hurt less if we remained ignorant?" Darkness is seeping into the edges of his vision. Sasori's fingers are trying to pry off Gaara's. "You want to find these memories? Go for it. But keep me the fuck out of it." Naruto passes out as Gaara lets him go.

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><p>Okay, well, this is probably the longest chapter this story is ever going to have. I'm lame, I know. And again, I'm super sorry for the long wait. I'll try to have the next chapter up within a month. And if it's not up by then, then you people need to like, poke me or send me some strongly worded messages.<p>

But, at this moment in time, could you please leave a review? Pretty please?

And, have a nice day!


	7. Pein

Okay, well, I know this is a late update and I'm sorry, like always. I only hope that this chapter makes up for it and that you can live with the hope that maybe the next one will come earlier.

I don't own Naruto or Pein or anyone, really...

Pein

Naruto sits on Dei's bed staring blankly at the wall. Neji's been called already; he's just waiting for the man to arrive and take him away. He isn't sure what he'll tell his parents or his friend tomorrow; it's a little hard to hide the bruises on his neck. He isn't even sure if he'll go home and he knows that he definitely won't be going to school. He wonders if Neji will let him stay over for a while.

Dei brings him a cup of coffee. "Are you, um, okay?" It's an extremely stupid question because it is glaringly obvious that he is not okay but it brings a small smile to his face. Dei's cheeks flush red. "I'm so sorry! That's such a-"

"Do we have bad memories?" The question completely kills any of the light air that was in the room.

Dei sets the coffee down on the bedside table and sits next to him. "I don't want to talk about our memories."

"They're all the connection we have," he says solemnly, looking down at his hands.

"I don't want them to be!" Dei grabs his shoulders. "Don't you see? Those memories don't have to be our only connection! I don't want my only connection with my friends to be memories from so long ago!" One of his hands moves to grab hold of Naruto's. "I don't want to be looked down upon anymore. I'm trying to make things right."

Naruto wants so badly to believe him but, "What about Sasori? He's from your past life."

Dei smiles sadly. "Danna and I share more than just those memories. I wish you'd see that. We share a love of art. We share a love of spending time together even though we're not the same people we were. Danna may have been in my past life but I would love him even if I'd never known him." Dei looks so convinced that Naruto can't bring himself to question it.

"How are you holding up?" His attention is diverted to the redhead leaning against the doorframe, arms folded across his chest. Those grey eyes stare into him.

"I'm fine," Naruto lies. He's not fine. He's not fine at all. Not physically, mentally, or emotionally.

"When he – Neji, right? – gets here, we're going to have a long talk." The redhead pushes himself off the doorframe and steps into the room. "You're doubting this." It's not a question; it's a statement. A true statement. He is doubting this. The memories, the people, he wonders if they're all worth this. Sasori frowns. "We need to see just how far you're willing to go in this. But we'll discuss that when Neji arrives." A knock on the door causes a smirk to play on his lips. "And there he is now." He goes to answer the door.

Naruto turns to the blonde to get one last question in before everything goes to hell. "Dei, do you think it's worth it?"

The blonde looks at him and casts a quick glance down the hallway to make sure that Sasori is really gone. "It's nice sometimes, Naruto, but don't base the people you meet off of your memories of them. A lot of us are trying to actually be better people than we were then." He pauses, casts another glance down the hallway. "Don't make this your life. Don't spend every waking moment searching for the people you think you've lost. The past is the past and this is our time to move on from it all. Please, please remember that."

It's at that moment that Sasori and Neji appear in the doorway. "Naruto." The brunette crosses the room in three strides and takes Naruto's face in his hands. He tilts the boy's head from side to side, admiring the bruises. "What are you going to tell your parents?"

Naruto places his hand son top of the man's. "I don't know yet. I was hoping that I could crash at your place for a while. I know that I can't go to school like this."

"You can stay with us," Dei offers up meekly.

"No." Neji's voice is ice cold. He stands, looking at Dei with disgust. "Even if I didn't remember you, I'd still say no. You're just college kids."

"We can take care of him," Die argues.

"Can you?" Neji spits out venomously. "You call this taking care of him?" He forces Naruto's head to the side to show off the bruises. Die looks away. "I don't think so." He grabs Naruto's arm. "We're leaving."

"There's something we need to discuss," Sasori interjects, stepping in front of the doorway. His posture dares Neji to try to get through.

"We don't need to discuss anything. Get out of the way."

"No. You want him to remember? Shit's gonna happen."

"No. This could have been prevented. You're just not adept at dealing with situations without your puppets to protect you."

"Don't you _dare_!" Sasori hisses, stepping forward and grabbing Neji's shirt. "I'm perfectly capable of handling myself, Hyuuga!"

"Get out of my way."

"You're not in charge of him."

"More so than you are. Move."

"You can tell me to move all you want. I won't." Neji growls in response, hold tightening on Naruto's arm. "He needs to decide for himself whether he wants to go through with this."

"We can decide that later, Sasori. He was almost killed an hour ago, if you don't recall."

"No, he needs to decide it now."

"This may not be a good idea, danna," Die says softly as he stares at the building.

"If he wants to uncover his memories then he has to go through with this."

"Can't we do this later though, un? Like, not when it's dark?" Dei squeezes Naruto's hand though the boy isn't sure who the reassurance is for.

"No." Sasori pulls the door open, the little bell jingling. "After you."

Naruto steps inside the shop, Dei close behind, and stops, unsure. The green-haired woman at the counter pops her blue gum and flips through her book. She looks up at them and smiles, shoving her books under the counter. "How may I help you?" Her voice is surprisingly sweet; Naruto expected it to be haunting, maybe for her to even cackle a little. Her smile grows at his hesitance to answer. "You're probably here for some body jewelry, right? You don't look like the type to be getting a tattoo. So what were you hoping for? Eyebrow? Nose? Lip? I could see you getting your lip pierced."

"I have a tattoo," Naruto says hotly, almost pouting at the insult to his manliness.

"Oh, I see. Daring, aren't you? Well then, what about a nipple piercing? Those are bold, don't you think?"

Naruto's face flames red. "N-no!"

"For the love of – we need to see Nate," Sasori says, pushing past Naruto.

"This must be personal, huh?" the girl says, frowning. "Well, he's in the back. But you'd better hurry; he's got someone coming in soon." As Naruto walks by she winks at him. "When you're done having fun back there you can come back up here and we'll talk about that piercing." He opens his mouth to protest but Sasori grabs the front of his shirt and drags him away.

"Welcome." A man in the center of the room is organizing papers. "How may I help you?" He looks up at them and Naruto is astounded at how many piercings he has. The man's eyes narrow dangerously as he takes in their presence. "What do you want?" His friendly tone has vanished, replaced by one as cold as Neji's had been only a few hours ago. His gaze lingers on Naruto for a long while.

"We need your name." Sasori shoves Naruto forward. "This is his test."

"No. I refuse to be involved with him again. He doesn't want those memories." The man turns away. "Get out of my shop."

"No." Sasori stands firm, eyes bearing into the back of the man's skull.

"Who put you in charge?" the man snarls, whipping back around.

"I did. Just tell him your name."

The man looks like he's about yell when he takes a deep breath and exhales slowly. "Leave us." He waves his hand dismissively. Sasori makes a small noise of protest in the back of his throat but Dei pulls him away. The door clicks shut behind them and the man shakes his head "You don't want to know," he says.

"I don't know what I want," Naruto confesses. "I feel like everything is slipping from my fingers. I'm losing control." He looks up at the man. "I'm…I'm losing parts of myself. That doesn't make any sense but-"

"The irony," the man says, "is that you're trying to find yourself." A sad smile crosses his lips.

"I just…I want to be me!"

"But who is you?" the man asks quickly. "Is you the person from this time? Or is you the person from your last lifetime? It's so hard to tell, isn't it? And then everything ends up melding together until you're neither one or the other and yet, you're both at the same time."

"They want me to be the person I was. They push me to remember and when I don't…they treat me like a failure. Like a child who can't do anything right."

"Perhaps they don't actually want you to remember for your own sake. Perhaps they're simply the ones who can't live with you not knowing. You have to recall that once upon a time you were their friends. They loved you. And because they remember, they still do. So of course it hurts when you can't remember and love them back."

"I don't want them to hurt because of me! But…but…" He runs a hand through his blonde locks. "My friend…unlocking his memories hurt him. It hurt him! It can't be worth it if it only causes pain! Is it? Is it worth it?"

"Only you can decide that."

"That's not very helpful!" he yells, then shrinks back because he shouldn't be yelling.

"Would you rather have someone decide your fate for you? " The man steps towards him.

"No. I want to be in control."

"But you're not. You already admitted that you are, in fact, losing any control you once held. So I suppose it doesn't really matter if someone decides for you." The man shrugs.

"I'd rather decide."

The man is right in front of him now, staring down into his eyes. "Then make your decision." At this moment the door behind them opens and a woman stands there awkwardly. "I apologize," he says to Naruto, "but you'll have to leave."

He's greeted out front by Die, who grabs his face to check that he's okay. He places his hands on top of the older male's, smiling at the genuine display of concern. "I'm fine, Dei."

"You didn't learn his name." Sasori sounds disappointed, looks disappointed, angry even but Naruto isn't sure who he's angry at.

"I didn't ask him," he says honestly.

"Then why were you in there so long?"

"We talked. I can actually do that, you know. Hold conversations? Yeah, there's more to me than just my memories."

"We didn't come here so you could spill your soul to him."

"You know, I get the feeling that he cares more about me than you ever will."

"Naruto, un," Dei cries as he steps between the two of them, "how can you say that?"

He points a finger at the redhead. "All he cares about is unlocking my old memories! I don't believe he's stopped to even think about how this is affecting me! For all he cares I could probably have an emotional breakdown, but as long as I figured out who the hell that guy was it doesn't matter!"

"We came here to see if you could handle it."

"And if I couldn't you'd probably just abandon me! None of you people want anything to do with me unless I remember!"

"That's not true, Naruto!" Dei protests. Naruto wants to take back what he says; Dei would still be his friend. Die would probably follow him to hell and back. But would Die only go to such great lengths because they had such a bad relationship back then?

"Maybe you're right," Sasori hisses out. "Maybe none of us really give a damn about you. Well, now what? You gonna run away? You gonna leave us? You have nowhere to go."

Tears well up in his eyes. "I should leave you! No wonder Gaara won't accept you! You're an asshole!"

Dei rounds on him. "Don't say that about danna!"

"Fine. We'll leave you here. You don't want us; we don't need you." Sasori turns. "Come on, Dei."

"But danna…" All the anger is gone in Dei's face. He looks at Naruto pleadingly, as though the blonde should try to make amends.

"Come on, _Deidara_," Sasori snaps, impatient.

Naruto sucks in a quick breath at the name and tries hard not to have flashbacks. His breath catches in his throat and he can't exhale. He can't breathe. The whole world turns sideways. "No, danna, he's-" But Sasori jerks the blonde away as Naruto falls to his knees.

He sees Deidara, remembers Deidara. Their fights, the explosions. Gaara's death. Oh God. Gaara's death. Gaara's death was all Dei's fault. All Dei's fault…

His vision starts getting blurry as hate and rage consume him. He wishes that Dei were still here so he could punch the man. He wants to hurt someone, beat someone, because then at least he won't be the only one that hurts. But he knows he's not the only one that hurts because Gaara remembers too. Gaara remembers _dying_.

And it's all his fault…

He lets out a choked sob as tears hit the concrete beneath him. "Naruto." Gentle hands touch him, arms envelope him. "Naruto."

He tries to look up but the whole world is a blur through his eyes. He tries to blink back the tears but dark spots take their place in his eyes. Darkness comforts him as he passes out.

"Naruto." He opens his eyes slowly, blinking up at the man above him. "Naruto."

"You…" His voice feels weak, faint, scratchy, like he's been screaming for hours.

The man places a finger to his lips. "Don't talk. Just listen to me." The man helps him up. "Stop looking for memories." He wants to protest so badly but it's useless. He doesn't even understand why he'd want to protest something like this. The man is right. "Naruto, by now I hope you understand that it isn't worth it. And if you need any more reasons why you should stop, just take a good look at yourself. You're beaten and bruised, abandoned and emotionally scarred. Ask yourself, who are you suffering for? Them?" The man points to the door. "Those people that only want what used to be? They're living in the past." He grabs Naruto's arm. "This is a different life, Naruto, You don't need to be the person you were. Don't you understand? You were born with the gift of not remembering. You knew no pain or suffering. And you're hurting yourself. You're hurting yourself, Naruto."

"And Gaara," he rasps out. "I hurt Gaara because I made him remember." He buries his face in his hands. "I'm so sorry."

"I'm not the one you should be apologizing to."

"He won't talk to me. I've ruined his life." A hand rubs his back soothingly.

"Not all of our memories are sad or painful. Unfortunately, you most of all have a lot of bad memories. Your life then was not kind to you."

"It's not worth it," he concludes, looking up into the man's eyes.

"No it isn't," the man agrees, rising." "Stay as long as you like." He's about to leave when he turns back to the blonde. "I'm trying to do right, Naruto. Remember that when the memories show otherwise."

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><p>Alright, so I know that Sasori came off as a total jerk, but, well, it's Sasori and I don't really feel too bad about him coming off that way. Sorry to all you Sasori lovers who were crushed by the fact that he's like that.<p>

If you have any questions or concerns or just comments in general, send me a PM or leave a review and I'll get back to you! I hope you enjoyed the chapter!

So, anyway, have a good day, night, morning, whatever!


	8. Kakashi

Hey everyone! This chapter is super late and I'm really sorry. I'll try to get the next one out sooner!

Um, I don't own Naruto. So don't sue.

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><p>Kakashi<p>

"Hey, Naruto!" Alina pops up out of nowhere and latches onto his arm, grinning. "I'm not letting you go today!" He stares at her blankly. "You're going to spend some quality time with me! Okay?"

He doesn't say anything because it doesn't matter at this point.

"You barely show up to school anymore and when you do, you avoid Zach and I like the plague." Her grip on his arm gets tighter.

"I'm going to do better. Things should turn around for me." He tries to smile at her but it comes looking more sad than anything.

She doesn't even seem to notice. "Good! We've been so worried about you!"

He wonders how such 'worried' people don't even call his phone to ask if he's okay. He wonders how such 'worried' people don't visit him or attempt to communicate in any other form. He wonders how such 'worried' people would let him drown in his own problems.

He thinks about voicing this to the girl who's still blabbering about how much everyone missed him when someone runs into the side of him. He stumbles back a few steps and focuses on the man – teen – that knocked into him. He's startled to find the teen staring back at him with his grey eyes. That look is curious, as though the teen isn't quite sure that he actually ran into something real.

"Hey! Apologize for running into him! You jerk!" Alina comes to his 'rescue' stepping in between him and the teen and jabbing her finger into the teen's chest.

"Sorry." But the teen doesn't sound sorry at all, not that it's easy to tell with the monotone tone that came out. He looks like he's about to say something else when he changes his mind and steps back. "I have to…go." And then the teen is gone.

"What a jerk," Alina comments, latching onto Naruto's arm and smiling up at the blonde.

"He just looked a little lost. He was probably deep in thought."

"So? That doesn't give him any right to not apologize!"

"Alina." He looks down at her and has the urge to tell her to stop talking but he can't bring himself to. Instead he looks away and begins to walk home with her attached to his side.

"Are you coming to school tomorrow?" she asks as they approach his apartment.

"Yeah. I'll be there. Don't worry." He sticks his key into the knob and turns it, pushing open the door in the process.

"Okay, good." She stands there even as he steps inside. He turns back to her. She stares at him expectantly.

"Do you need something?"

"Well, I was hoping I could come in. You know, spend some more time with you." She flashes him a smile.

"It's been a long day. I have work to do and I'd really rather just be alone. I'm sorry." He starts to close the door but she puts her hands against it and shoves back.

"Please, Naruto! Don't shut yourself away! Talk to me!"

"You wouldn't understand even if I told you."

"Don't say that! You don't know that! Just talk to me!"

"I'm sorry, Alina, but I do know that you'd never understand." He closes the door even as she pushes against it and turns the lock so she can't barge in on him.

"Don't do this!" she screams from the outside.

"Go home," he tells her, turning and going into his room. He puts on his headphones and drowns out the world.

She catches up with him at the end of the day again, her hands latching onto his arm, her nails digging into his skin. He doesn't have to tell her that he's been avoiding her all her day; it's obvious. The anger in her eyes tells him exactly how she feels about him ignoring her.

"I came," he says but that doesn't appease her. It only makes her angrier.

"You closed the door on me when I was trying to help!" She lets go of his arm to move in front of him and block his path. Her eyes are brimming with tears. "You just…you just…how could you do that?"

"Alina, I need time to just mellow out. People aren't…I need alone time."

"Well, you don't get it by slamming doors in people's faces! In fact, by doing that people bother you more because they're worried!"

"I…I understand what you're saying. I made a stupid mistake."

"Don't just spew this crap at me, Naruto! You're such a – what does _he_ want?"

Naruto turns and there's that teen from yesterday, standing there staring at him. He takes a step towards the teen, ignoring Alina's squawk of protest. "You ran into me yesterday."

"An accident," the teen replies.

"I don't think it was."

The teen smirks. "Who's to say it was or wasn't?"

"You took my wallet."

The teen actually laughs at that. "I needed a reason to talk to you again."

"I don't think that, 'I took your wallet yesterday and now I'm returning it' is really a good conversation starter. But that's just for future reference."

The teen hands him his wallet. "It was all I had. I didn't think that you'd actually stop and listen if I just walked up to you."

"Stop and…?" And all of a sudden it all just clicks. "No. No. Look, I don't want to know who you are or were or any of that. I don't want to know what we were, or who you were to me, or what I was to you, or what I did for you, or any of that. I don't want to know. If you want to be my anything, you'll have to do it the old-fashioned way and get to know me all over again. And I'll get to know the you that you are now. But I don't care about that place we came from or the people we fought or anything."

Confusion and hurt flashes through those grey eyes before the teen recomposes himself. "You don't remember?"

"No, okay? And I'm tired of trying to. I'm…my life is being ruined because I'm trying to please you people. Well, not you, but…I'm not crazy!"

"I don't think you are, Naruto," the teen tells him.

"You don't even know me." There's a moment of silence and then Naruto sighs. "You don't know the me now."

"Are you really that different?" the teen asks.

Naruto runs a hand through his blonde hair. "I don't know, okay? If I'm anything close to what I used to be like, it's obviously not good enough for you people."

"It's still…it's still very nice to see you again."

"Look, I..." He trails off, glancing over his shoulder at Alina, whose foot is tapping impatiently. "I don't care if you want to, you know, be my friend. I'm okay with that. I'm okay with you hanging around. But…" He sighs. "But I'm not doing the whole memory thing. So you'll just have to live with me."

"I understand."

"Do you?" But at this moment Alina latches onto his arm, giving the teen a fake smile.

"I'm sorry to break this up but we actually have somewhere to be." She begins to tug Naruto off in the other direction.

"Tomorrow then?" The teen sounds hopeful. Naruto looks back and nods.

Alina rounds on him the minute they're out of the teen's sight. "Since when have you been into men?"

He blinks stupidly. "What are you talking about?"

"I saw the way you looked at him! And the way he looked at you! The two of you were flirting! I know flirting when I see it! I mean, since when have you even liked men like that!"

"I…I don't…I wasn't flirting with him…"

"Is that who you've been spending all of your time with?"

"I just met him, Alina. I don't even know his name."

"A likely story! So how long have you two been going out? Huh?"

"Alina, you're being ridiculous." Naruto turns from her but she grabs his arm.

"I want to be part of your life again!" she yells.

"And you can be," he tells her, prying her off him, "but you have to understand that sometimes other people will come first."

"Like that boy."

"Yes, like him. There are just some people in this world that have priority. And I'm sorry, Alina, but you're not one of them."

She flinches like he's hit her. "But we…we're best friends…"

"I'm sorry." He walks away from her and she wants to scream, wants to cry, wants to call him back and yells at him for being such a jerk but she can't find it in her to make a sound.

He skips school. He doesn't want to see Zach or Alina, doesn't want to deal with teachers and work. He's fairly certain that his parents know he's missed more than just a couple days but they haven't brought up the subject and he isn't willing to go there.

"You shouldn't be skipping school." He'd been waiting for the teen across the street from his school, not knowing when the male would be arriving to talk to him.

"You shouldn't either," he counters, standing up and facing the teen.

"I dropped out," the teen replies, shrugging. "Can't be skipping if you don't attend."

"I suppose that's true." There's a lull, a silence. "I don't know your name."

The teen laughs and extends his hand. "I'm Kayden."

"Kayden." Naruto chews on that name for a while. It's different, he thinks. "Would you like to get something to eat?"

The waitress shoots them a funny look as she takes their order – she's probably wondering why they're not in class – but she doesn't say anything to them and walks away. Naruto takes this moment to really eye the teen in front of him. The male has silver hair – a weird color by anyone's standards for a man so young - and dark brown, almost black eyes. His skin is pale and it looks soft.

"Does my appearance bother you?"

His cheeks flush slightly and he ducks his head. "No. You're…you're very attractive." His cheeks darken even more. "You're the first one I've met that's my age."

"Just how many of us have you met, Naruto?"

He looks up into those dark eyes. "Just a few. Maybe five or six or seven."

Kayden leans forward, elbows on the table. "Five or six or seven? Naruto, I haven't even come across one other person."

"I can introduce you to all of them. Well, since you already know them it's not really introducing, is it?"

"Who do you know?"

"I don't want to talk about this, Please, I already told you that I…I wasn't getting involved with those memories anymore."

The waitress comes by with their drinks. "You had the-"

"Who have you been with, Naruto?" The teen's outburst startles them both. The waitress looks from one to the other before scurrying away.

"Neji," he blurts out. "Kiba, Gaara. Akamaru. Sasori. Deidara." And then he buries his face in his hands because he doesn't want to think about any of those people anymore.

"I'm sorry, I…with Sasori and Deidara I can see why you don't want to know who I am."

"Are you like them?" he asks. "Are you…did you hurt people like they did?"

"We all hurt people, Naruto, it was our job. But I'm not like them. I _wasn't_ like them. We were on the same side. We were-"

"Stop!" Naruto yells. People nearby shoot him funny looks. "I don't want to know! I don't ever want to know again! Don't you get it?"

Kayden places a hand on his. "Naruto, I understand where you're coming from."

The blonde scoffs. "No you don't! You think you hurt because I don't remember? You don't fucking know how much I'm hurting! None of you people get it! The only person that understood was Gaara, and he won't talk to me because I did what you people are all trying to do! I fucked up his life!"

"Naruto, please, calm down. Why don't we go somewhere else? I'll take you out and we can get ramen." The teen places money on the table for everything, even the food they haven't gotten, and ushers the blonde out of the restaurant.

"I don't even like ramen!" Kayden looks absolutely stunned at this outburst. "Don't you get it? I'm not who you think I am! I'm not who you want me to be! I'm not even a poor copy! I'm my own damn person!"

"I'm sorry," Kayden murmurs, reaching out and placing a hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry. I don't want to hurt you. I don't want you to be hurt. I'm sorry."The teen pulls him in for a hug and Naruto sobs into his chest. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry."

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><p>So, that's the end of that chapter. I know that a few of you are probably like, "Uh...nothing happened, except Naruto had an emotional breakdown" and well, that's kinda the truth. But, let's be honest, his life is a big mess. He's allowed to cry when people push his buttons like that.<p>

Oh, also, Kakashi (Kayden) should be appearing more in the future chapters because he is the closest to Naruto's age. Remember, Neji is like 30 and has a job, Kiba and Akamaru are about 12, Gaara doesn't want to talk to him, and Sasori and Deidara...don't want to talk to him either. So, it's up to Kakashi to be his new bestest friend!

That's really all I have to say at this moment. If you have any questions, comments or concerns (or complaints even) tell me about them in a review or in a PM or whatever suits your fancy.

But, uh, please, do leave s review.

And have a nice day! Or night. Or morning. Whatever you want to be nice!


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